Headlight.



R. F. WILSON.

HEADLIGHT.

APPLICATION FILED AUG-l9, I914.

Patented June 29,

m VE/y TOR. 5F. //6 0/7.

Zjzrmsssgs; x4 WM ROLAND F. WILSON, OF DENVER, COLORADO.

HEADLIGHT.

, Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 29,1915.

Application filed August 19, 1914. Serial No. 857,582.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, ROLAND F. WILSON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Denver, in the county of Denver and State of Colorado, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Headlights, which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in headlights for automobiles and other power driven vehicles, and its primary object resides in providing a light of this character in which the blinding effect of its reflected rays on pedestrians and drivers of approaching vehicles, is mitigated by the provision of means which prevent the upward reflection of light rays without obstructing the course of the downwardly reflected rays or that of the unreflected rays which radiate from the illuminative element without impinging upon" the reflective surface within which it is mounted.

A further object of my invention is to provide means by which a head light constructed in accordance with my invention may at the will of the driver of the vehicle, be converted for'the reflection of light rays upwardly as well as downwardly, as in the lights at present in common use, when it is desired to illuminate elevated objects in front of the vehicle.

In the accompanying drawings in the various views of which like parts are similarly designated, Figure 1- represents a vertical axial section through a head-light to which my invention has been applied, Fig. 9., a transverse section along the line 22, Fig. 1, Fig. 3, a section similar to that shown in Fig. 1, illustrating a modified form of my invention, and Fig. 4, a diagrammatic view of the electric circuit and circuit controlling devices employed in connection with a head li ht of the construction shown in Fig. 3.

Referring to Fig. 1 of the drawings, the reference numeral 2 designates the parabolic reflector of a headlight which at its front is closed by a lens 3 and which in its rear portion carries an incandescent lamp 18.

The lower portion of the lamp is covered by a shield which, may be made separate from the lamp, of metal or other desirable material and secured in its operative position by any suitable means, or which may be produced by rendering the glass of which the bulb is made, opaque or translucent as indicated at 16 in Fig. 1, either by acoating of heat resisting material or by grinding the glass of which the lamp-bulb is composed.

The shield has at its forward end, a port 17 for the unobstructed passage of the forwardly radiating rays which pass from the lamp directly through the lens of the light without impinging upon the reflective sur face of the same, and the only light rays obstructed by the shield are therefore those which ordinarily would impinge upon the lower portion of the reflective surface.

By making the shield of translucent material or, in case the shield is produced on the lamp bulb, by rendering the lower portion of the latter translucent instead of opaque by grinding the glass or by covering it with a translucent substance, sufficient light will pass onto the lower portion of the reflective surface to illuminate elevated objects in front of the vehicle so as to make them plainly discernible to the driver without producing the blinding eflect which ordinarily confuses approaching pedestrians and drivers, and is a source of annoyance and danger.

In the form of my invention illustrated in Fig. 3, two lamps 14 and 15 are placed one above the other within the reflector and fixed between the same is a shield 13 of opaque material which curves around the lower portion of the upper lamp to prevent the propagation of light rays toward the lower portion of the reflective surface, and which like the shield hereinbefore described is open at its forward end to permit of the unobstructed passage of the forwardly projecting, unreflected rays.

The filaments 5 and 6 of the two lamps are connected in multiple in electric circuits as shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings in which the numeral 7 designates the source of electricity, 8 and 9 the conductors which con- I light emitted from the filament 5 which impinge upon the upper portion of the reflective surface of the reflector, are reflected in a downward direction as indicated by the broken lines A. The rays emitted forwardly from the lamp, pass through the open end of the shield without impinging upon the said surface as indicated by the line B, but the course of the light rays which ordinarily would be reflected upwardly by impingement on the lower part of the reflective surface is obstructed by the presence of the shield 13. The result is that only the road-way and other objects beneath the horizontal plane of the axis of the light in front of the vehicle to which the headlight is applied, are brilliantly illuminated, while above the said plane, the light rays which ordinarily would roduce a blinding effect on approaching pe estrians or drivers, are absent. In case, however, it is desired to illuminate more elevated objects in view of the vehicle, it is but necessary to connect the lower filament in the circuit by means of the circuit-controlling device 12, when the head-light will emit light rays in an upward direction, as well as downwardly as in the lights at present in use.

It will he understood that in the form ofmy invention illustrated in Fig. 3, the shield may be provided by grinding or coating the under surface of the upper bulb as in the first described form, that in the form shown in Fig. 1 the shield may be made separately from the electric lamp and formed to fitthe lower portion of the same as indicated at 16, and that the shield in both the forms may be made either translucent or opaque as desired.

Having thus described my invention what I claim and desire to secure by Letters-Patent is:

1. A head-light comprising in combination a reflector, two illuminative elements positioned one above the other in the rear portion thereof, means for rendering said elements separately, luminous, and a shield around the lower portion of the upper element, which obstructs the passage of light rays from said element to thelower portion of the reflective surface of the reflector.

2. A head-light comprising in combination a reflector, two illuminative elements positioned one above the other in the rear portion thereof, means for rendering 'said elements separately, luminous, and a shield between the said elements, which obstructs the passage of light-rays from the upper element to the lower portion of the reflective surface of the reflector.

3. A head-light comprising in combination a reflector, two illuminative elements positioned one above the other in the rear portion thereof, means for rendering said elements separately, luminous, and a shield around the lower portion of the upper element, which obstructs the passage of light rays from said element to the lower portion of the reflective surface of the reflector, and which at its front has a port for the passage of forwardly emitted,- unreflected rays of light.

4:. A head-light comprising in combination a reflector, two incandescent filaments operatively mounted one above the other in the rear portion thereof, an electric circuit in which said filaments are connected, circuit-controlling means for directing the flow of current through said filaments to render them separately incandescent, and a shield between said filaments, which obstructs the passage of light-rays from the upper filament to the lower portion of the reflective surface of the reflector.

5. A head light comprising in combination with a concave reflector. and a lamp therein, of an obstructive shield positioned between the lamp and a portion of the reflective surface of the reflector at one side of a plane passing through the axis of the same, and adapted to obstruct the passage of those rays which would otherwise impinge directly upon the said portion of the said surface, exclusive of the rays which at the same side of the said plane, pass directly through the open end of the reflector.

6. A head light comprising in combination with a concave reflector and a lamp therein, of an obstructive shield positioned between the lamp and a portion of the reflective surface of the reflector below the horizontal plane passing through the'axis of the same, and adapted to obstruct the passage of those. rays which would otherwise impinge directly upon the said-portion of the said surface, exclusive of the rays which 'atthe same side of the; said plane, pass directly through the open end of the reflector. v

In testimony whereof I have aflixed my signature in presencef two witnesses.

ROLAND F. WILSON.

Witnesses:

G. J. ROLLANDET, L. RHOADES. 

